Dalai Lama hopes PM will raise Tibet issue in US (Lead)

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama Saturday described Manmohan Singh as a "clean politician" and said he was hopeful the prime minister would do whatever possible on the Tibetan issue when he meets US President Barack Obama next week.

"The Indian prime minister is a very honest person and a clean politician. India and Tibet have a very close unique spiritual relations. I am sure that whatever the prime minister can do and appeal to his friend (Obama), he will do," the Dalai Lama said here when asked what his hopes were from Manmohan Singh's four-day trip to Washington.

The prime minister left for the US Saturday as the first state guest of Obama at the White House.

"I have no worry but I understand that he should be practical and realistic. The government of India and the US have certain limitations and that is also a reality," the Dalai Lama told reporters at the launch of a cancer centre at Max hospital in Saket, south Delhi.

During his visit to Italy earlier this week, the Dalai Lama had appreciated Obama's appeal to Chinese leaders to hold talks with him over the Tibet issue.

"The government of India and we have accepted Tibet as an autonomous region of the Republic of China. President Obama must have had serious talks with the Chinese leaders (on the Tibet issue) and I must appreciate that," he said.

The Dalai Lama later spoke at a seminar on Tibetan history and culture at Delhi University and emphasised that globally he was known as the Dalai Lama of Tibet, yet Chinese claimed he was the Dalai Lama of China's Tibet.

"Wherever I go (in the world) they call me the Dalai Lama of Tibet they never say the Dalai Lama of China. Only the Chinese call me the Dalai Lama of China's Tibet," he said.

The Dalai Lama also exhorted Tibetan communities to disseminate more information on Tibetan culture and political history by bringing out books and texts as there was a growing interest on the issue.

Last updated on Nov 21^st, 2009 at 16:59 pm IST--IANS